Book vs. Movie: The Shining

What happens when I hear the word ‘shining’? I get chills, that’s right! And I’m pretty sure most of the fans get me. Stephen King's The Shining is a classic piece of literature and Stanley Kubrick's cinematic version shares the same cult status. Personally, I’m ardent of both.

Sure, Stanley Kubrick’s depiction of the piece gave an interesting turn to the movie, which of course the writer himself and the readers were not impressed with.

Well, a good piece of work is a good piece of work. Hands down!

Here are some differences that I stumbled upon after watching a detailed video. (Faintly chronological)

• Jack Nicholson had earned a special cult name for himself after his brilliant performance in the movie and his character starts out as kind of evil who is irritated by his family and is called Jack Torrance yet in the book he is a man with good intentions who is overcome by evil and called John Daniel Torrance.

• In the book Jack is already an employee at The Overlook Hotel when he meets Mr. Ullman but in the movie he gets hired during the interview.

• Wendy Torrance played by Shelley Duvall is of course not a blonde but in the book she is.

• In the book, the season runs from May 15th to September 30th, however the first day at the hotel is Halloween in the movie.

• According to the book, Danny is a real sharp boy who has a pretty impressive vocabulary for a five-year old and loves Sesame Street. And Kubrick's depiction of Danny is a seven-year old and prefers the Road Runner show.

• Danny likes to have sandwiches and soup and in the movie its French fries and ketchup.

• In the book the yard has hedges in shape of animals and in the movie it has a huge giant maze.

• Danny has a dream and sees fundamentally everything that will happen in the book from "REDRUM" to his father and a hammer, however not the Grady twins. In the film he just sees the twins and that popular surge of blood coming out the elevator.

• Jack has a sludge hammer in the book and an axe in the movie.

• The cover of the book portrays Danny as a troublemaker or simply evil although in the movie he looks like any other innocent kid.

• In the book the boiler must be dumped several times a day or it explodes, which is not even mentioned in the movie.

• The hotel room number is 217 in the book while in the movie it’s 237.

• In the movie, Danny is relatively closer to Wendy but it’s the other way around in the book.

• The popular monotonous line that Jack writes in the film, 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull kid' doesn't really show up in the book.

• The book briefly mentions Grady’s daughters. Whereas they are used in the movie as frequents visual scare.

• In the book John is 14 months on the wagon yet in the film Jack's been calm for five months.

• Stephen makes the lodging unpleasant by expounding on all the squeaking and unusual clamors however Kubrick chose quiet was more evil.

• There are topiary supports out front of the inn in the book, yet in the film they're at the back and it's a labyrinth.

• Fences, a hosepipe and a lift wake up all alone in King's book yet just a grisly lift rocks up in the film.

• In the book the inn needs to take Danny's forces yet in the film it doesn't really need anything.

• The terrible room in the book is room 217 however in the book its 237 (however that change was down to the lodging proprietors who didn't need visitors to be excessively terrified, making it impossible to stay there after the film turned out.

• Halfway through the book Danny goes in 217, sees his odd twofold in the mirror and the old woman, and when John enters he sees a dry shower. Halfway through the film Jack goes in 237 snogs the wet lady who then transforms into a deteriorating old body.

• "REDRUM" shows up towards the end of the second demonstration in the film however Danny knows there is "REDRUM" in the lodging before he arrives.

• "Homicide" is uncovered to Danny in the book however Wendy in the film.

• Wendy and Danny lock Jack in the storeroom in Stephen's story however Wendy does it solo in Stanley's interpretation.

• There's a drive for John to end up the chief by Grady the apparition in the book yet its never raised in the.

• Grady liberates John from the storeroom in the book (consequently for his child and Wendy's demise) yet it is never seen in Kubrick's movie.

• Jack never murders anyone in the book while in the movie he murders Dick Hallorann.

• In the book, jack struggles with alcoholism and authority issues but n the movie it is alcohol and blatant writer’s block.

• In the book, the Overlook Hotel is completely destroyed in a fire but it remains intact in the movie.

Written by Sukanya Roy

Artist, Critic, Writer, Photographer, Movie buff, Graphic Designer, Literature and Geography enthusiast, Soccer fan, and Imaginative.